Unexpected Comfort
by Hope Mikaelson-Clarke
Summary: Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Academy.
1. Betrayal Stings

Unexpected Comfort

Chapter 1: Betrayal Stings

**Summary:** Betrayal was not something that I enjoyed feeling. And to have it come from the two most important people in my life was the worst feeling ever. But in all of my self-pity, I forgot that I wasn't the only one betrayed.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Vampire Academy.

I lay on my side, facing away from the bedroom door. I hear the door open and close quickly, and the attempted soft footfalls of someone coming towards the bed before sitting on the edge, causing my body to stiffen up, but other than that, I make no effort to roll over and see who is bothering me.

The bed dips as whomever it is moves to lay on their side as well, but they still haven't said anything, or made a move to attack me, so I remain silent and still. When a not-unfamiliar hand moves over my waist to pull me against the owner's chest, my body finally relaxed.

"Talk to me, Rose. I need to know that I'm not the only one going out of my mind about what happened." He says, his voice uncharacteristically broken.  
"Chris…" I breath out, finally turning to look at him. "It happened. We both saw it, and I don't think it's something that we will ever be able to unsee." I add, lowering my gaze so I won't have to see my hurt reflected in his eyes.  
"What do we do now?" Christian asks.  
"Actively ignore them until the guilt over what they've done to us eats away at them so much that they come crawling back." I respond, my words dripping with dark glee.  
"That's it?"  
"What else can we do, Chris? She's my best friend and your fiancée. And he's been my mentor and on-again/off-again yo-yo of a relationship. And tonight we caught them fucking each other behind our backs."  
"Rose, come on… there has to be something more that we can do to get back at them for this."

My eyes glance to his hand that's now on my neck, with his thumb gently caressing my cheek. This is way more intimate of a position than I ever thought I would ever find myself in with Christian Ozera. But I find that it's not completely unwanted. In the time that I've been his Guardian, there have been brief moments, here and there, where I would find myself thinking about him in more than a professional, or even friendly way, but I always snap out of those moments quickly. This is something completely different.

"You don't like my idea, what's yours?" I ask. "You made a public show of proposing to her, and any kind of take back of that would ruin both of your reputations. I don't want that for you Chris."  
"What about hers?" Christian asks, his tone darkening.  
"At this very moment, I don't care about her reputation. She cheated on you with her Guardian. Her reputation is already in the garbage at the moment. Even if no one else knows about it." I explain.  
"What if I did the same thing? Would you say the same thing about my reputation?" He questions, his tone broken once again.  
"Doing so as a reaction to her betrayal, no, I wouldn't. If you had managed to talk me into having sex with you before we found out about them, then there's a chance that I would say that. But Chris, you aren't seriously suggesting you and I have sex, are you?" I respond as I bring a hand to his cheek.  
"Only if you want to."  
"Let's just sleep tonight. We can talk more about all of this in the morning."

As I return to my previous position, Christian pulls me tighter against him. There's a part of me that just wants to take him up on his offer and jump his bones. But the rest of me just desperately wants to go to sleep so I can forget about what we had seen. Although that doesn't happen, since Christian's hand is still resting on my hip, and it just pulls me right back to the scene.

_I could feel Lissa's excitement radiating off of her, despite no longer being her Guardian. I had thought, as Christian and I were walking along trying to find her, that she was just gushing to another royal about the insanely beautiful engagement ring Christian had given her. But as we zeroed in on her, we both heard her throaty moan, and as we rounded a corner, Christian's hands had landed on my hips to hold me back from what we were seeing._

_Lissa was against the side of a building, her skirt bunched up around her waist, her legs wrapped tightly around another man's waist, and from where Christian and I stood, we could see the man's dick continuously disappearing into Lissa's pussy. I recognized the man's profile, but I desperately wanted to be wrong about who my best friend was letting fuck her when her fiancé was standing next to me. But when I heard his voice say her name- "Vasya"- I couldn't lie to myself._

_Lissa was being fucked by Dimitri. My former mentor, and on-again/off-again fling. Christian seemed to recognize the voice as well, because his hold on me tightened marginally. And while I didn't register a noise coming from either myself or Christian, one of us had to have made one, because both Lissa and Dimitri looked over at us, and Lissa's face fell. Dimitri's always stoic expression was in place, and he simply continued to move in and out of Lissa's pussy, even while locking eyes with me._

_I ran away after that, not wanting to see Dimitri bring Lissa to an orgasm. I should have known then that Christian would follow after me. But as a Guardian, I was faster than he was, which was the only reason I was already in bed, facing away from the door when he got back to the room._


	2. Morning Rounds

Unexpected Comfort

Chapter 2: Morning Rounds

The following morning I wake up to an intense heat radiating all over my body, its origin coming from my hip where Christian's hand still rests. The heat from Christian's magic has arousal pooling between my legs, and I want to moan, but know that I won't be able to do so quietly and would wake Christian up in the process. As I contemplate how easy or difficult it would be to slide out from under Christian's hold, his warm lips press against my skin, just below my ear, and his hand moves to cup my breast. The heat that radiated through my body quickly relocated its focal point to my breast and where Christian was kissing me, and I briefly wonder if he thought he was in bed with Lissa.

"You know I can smell your arousal, right Rose?" Christian whispers seductively into my ear.  
"It's your fault, Chris. You were using your magic on me all night, and my body reacted to the heat." I retort, wanting to move away from him, but finding myself pressing into him instead.  
"Is that so? Well, in that case, maybe I should help you out. It would be rude of me to not finish what I started." He says as he lightly bit my earlobe, and the moan I have been trying to hold back falls from my lips.

With a speed I didn't know he possessed, Christian flips me over and pins me to the bed. He holds my wrists in one hand above my head and focuses his magic into his other hand as his fingertips trail over my body. He has made one fatal error in how he had pinned me to the bed, though, having settled himself between my legs, and so in a dramatic show of wrapping my legs tightly around his waist, I flip us over and press my heated center against his erection.

"First rule in pinning someone beneath you… make sure you have their legs pinned as well. If their legs are free, they can turn the tables on you." I say, grinding my hips against his.  
"What if I wanted you to take control?" Christian asks with a raised eyebrow.  
"You never give up control during sex, Chris. You always want to in charge. You are always on top of her and have her writhing as you set the pace. Why would that change with me?"  
"Because you like being in control of sex, Rose. Maybe, just this once, I want to have the girl I'm with take the lead. She wants me to be happy and won't fight me for control. You would. I can't dominate you, Rose, and quite frankly, I don't want to dominate you."

Something about the conviction in his voice has me leaning down to kiss him. It's not a sweet like peck, either. No, it's a full on tongue's-battling-for-dominance, deep, passionate, knees-weakening kind of kiss, and it leaves me breathless. In a blind lust filled move, on both of our parts, our clothes are thrown elsewhere in the room, and I'm sinking down on Christian's hardened member. We waste no time in setting a fast rhythm, and soon enough Christian is sucking on my breasts, his teeth, and most importantly, his fangs, are lightly scraping my tits.

As Christian's hands roam my body before coming to a stop on my ass, heat follows his touch. A very, very, very minuscule part of me wishes he would stop using his magic, but the rest of me fears that if he does, this moment will end, and I really don't want that, so I keep my mouth shut for once, and don't bring it up. And as the moment goes on, the intensity of which Christian is using his magic increases and I'm hurtling towards my release. My hands, which up until this point had been hanging worthlessly at my side, come up and I tangle my fingers in his hair, holding his head in place against my chest.

I cum with a shout as Christian focuses his magic on my clit, and with my walls clenching tightly around him, Christian quickly follows, filling my womb with his seed. I slump against his chest and just stay there. I can feel his member slowly deflate inside me before I move slightly and it starts to harden again. Christian, obviously, feels it too, and quickly has me on my back again, hiking my legs up over his shoulders to push even deeper inside of me. He's grasping my thighs tightly to the point of bruises starting to form, but I can't bring myself to care.

"Come on Rose, I know you have another orgasm in you. Cum for me." Christian growls into my ear and I let out a long, low moan.

Needing more from him I run my hands up his chest and around his neck before pulling him down on top of me and into a deep kiss. I'm so close, and by the way Christian's thrusts have become a bit sporadic, I can tell he is too. But before either of us can reach our respective second releases, there's a desperate knock on the bedroom door, followed by the doorknob rattling, causing us to stop moving against each other.

"Did you lock the door last night?" I whisper and Christian nods.  
"Rose, please open the door. I need to apologize for last night."

I can't help scowling at the door. She shouldn't be apologizing to me. She should be apologizing to Christian. Christian who was starting to move in and out of me again. We were hypocrites. Yes, we were hurting over what we had seen, but that didn't mean that we should be having sex right now. I want to moan out as Christian's hips press against my clit, and Christian picks up on that, so he quickly covers my mouth with one hand while reaching between our bodies to pinch and rub my clit.

"Rose, I know you're in there. The door wouldn't be locked otherwise. Please let me in."

She can beg all she wants, but I'm not going to stop having amazing sex with Christian to go humor her. My body starts to shudder and writhe beneath Christian as a controlled surge of heat pulses through my clit and pussy, and I find myself cumming hard and fast around Christian as he once again fills my womb with his seed. A flash of what our children would look like if this gets me pregnant hits me, but I mentally shake the image away. There will be more time for that when he isn't still engaged, and we can actually talk about being a couple.

With a quick kiss on my lips, Christian lowers my legs from his shoulders one at a time, trailing kisses along my inner thighs before kissing my pussy. Once I've swallowed another moan, I climb out of bed and quickly slip my clothes on before going to the door and pulling it open just far enough for her to see me, but not Christian, nailing her with a glare.

"You are not who should be apologizing to me, and I am not who you should be apologizing to. You fucked Dimitri while engaged to Christian. How could you do that to him? You promised your life and love to Christian by accepting his proposal, but you willingly spread your legs for Dimitri." I snap.  
"Last night was a onetime thing, and it was a mistake." Lissa tries.  
"You're emotions last night said otherwise. You were excited to be fucking Dimitri. I felt your excitement." I feel no regret calling her out like this.  
"Rose please, you have to believe me." Lissa begs.  
"I don't have to do anything of the sort. You played Christian by fucking Dimitri. So just go back to your Guardian and leave me the fuck alone."  
"Why do you care so much about me hurting Christian?"  
"Because I am his Guardian. He's my number one priority."  
"You don't even like him."  
"That just goes to show how little you actually know me these days. He's the most important person to me, and you betrayed him. Now good-bye, Princess."


	3. Old Endings and New Beginnings

Unexpected Comfort

Chapter 3: Old Endings and New Beginnings

Once I close and lock the door again, I turn to see Christian standing right next to me. Without a word he grabs my hand and pulls me into him, using my surprise to capture my lips in a deep kiss. But my surprise doesn't last long, and I'm quickly jumping up to wrap my legs around his waist and am kissing him back. He carries me back to bed and we spend the rest of the day tangled up in the sheets and with each other. When I comment that I need to take a shower, he happily joins me, and we end up going a few more rounds in between cleaning each other off.

After drying off, we forgo wearing anything and climb into bed. Christian wraps his arms around me and I lay on top of him, the tip of his dick sliding through my folds. We are just about to drift off to sleep when a pounding on the door wakes us up and causing us to reluctantly break apart. I grab a night shirt from my dresser, a shirt that coincidentally was an old one of Christian's that he had stopped wearing, and head to the door, ready to give Dimitri a piece of my mind.

"Roza."  
"Dimitri."  
"You have to understand…"  
"No." I snap, cutting him off. "You don't get to tell me what I 'have to understand'. You fucked my best friend, not even 24 hours after she had gotten engaged. When Christian and I turned the corner and found the two of you together, you locked eyes with me and. Continued. To. Fuck. Her. You're her Guardian."  
"Roza, please…"  
"I'm done Dimitri. With both of you. Other than important get togethers involving royal families, and once Christian talks to Lissa about ending their engagement, since I don't see a solution that leads to them still getting married, I never want to see either of you ever again."

I slam the door in Dimitri's face and quickly lock it before launching myself halfway across the room to the bed and into Christian's arms. He positions me right back to where I had been before Dimitri had interrupted but made sure to slip a little bit more of his dick inside me. I push down on top of him and my body happily allows the intrusion. My hands are at the back of Christian's neck, playing with his hair, while Christian has one hand kneading my ass, and the other tangled in my hair as our foreheads rest against each other.

"I'll call off the engagement tomorrow. For tonight, I am going to enjoy having you in my arms and being buried inside you."  
"Chris, I'm exhausted." I mutter as I press my lips to his lightly.  
"Okay."

To say I'm surprised when he pulls me off of him and tucks me against his side would be an understatement. While the bond with Lissa wasn't as strong now as it used to be, I had been inside her head too many times while she had been having sex with Christian, but I had never seen him stop himself when she said she was tired. Had he just been in it for the sex with Lissa, and didn't want a hook up to end when we was already buried inside her? I honestly don't know the answer to that, but I like knowing that he was respectful of me enough to not continue. The last conscious thought I have before sleep overtakes me is that I'm pretty sure I'm in love with Christian Ozera.

The following morning I wake up to an empty bed, and I already miss Christian's presence. But a note on the pillow catches my eye, and I smile. I climb out of bed and get dressed, and as I'm getting ready to leave the room, a tentative knock startles me, and I slowly open the door. Of everyone I could have imagined being on the other side of the door, seeing Mia was a surprise. Surprise that clearly showed on my face because when she looked me in the eye, she gave me a slight frown.

"Let's go Hathaway."  
"Tell me where we're going first."  
"Look, I don't know why Ozera asked me of all people to come get you, when Lissa or Belikov would have made more sense, but he quickly shot down those options, so here I am. He said he had an announcement that needed to be made, and that you should be front and center when he makes it."

I regard Mia and the way she is impatiently tapping her foot with curiosity. She doesn't have the usual air of malcontent that she usually has around me, just a level of high annoyance. With a shrug I followed her, wondering what Christian has planned for announcing the end of his extremely short lived engagement. When we arrive, Christian looks up and we lock eyes, and he gives me a wink. I mutter a thank you to Mia before making my way up to where Christian is standing. Once I'm close enough he looks up again, sending me a dazzling smile and holding out his arm. I close the distance and give him an expectant look.

"Rose, how would you feel about going to Europe after today?" Christian asks.  
"Why would we be going to Europe?" I ask, my eyes wide.  
"I've been offered a teaching position at the Academy. As my Guardian," he explains, "and my lover," he adds in a low voice, "you would need to come with me. But I would only take the job if you wanted to go."  
"Chris, I've wanted to get away from Montana since well before I ever ran away from St. Vlad's. I would love to go to Europe."

Chris turns to the older Moroi gentleman, whom I can only assume is the Headmaster at the European Academy and accepts the offer. Once the other man leaves, Christian turns his full attention to me.

"I made a show of the proposal, it's only fitting that I make a show of ending the engagement." He explains.  
"Are you sure about this Chris? I know she hurt both of us, you more than me, but do you really want to make it this public? You know how fragile her mental state can be." I say.  
"You're not starting to forgive her already, are you?" He asks.  
"Of course not. This isn't even about her. This is about you. I don't want you to do something that you might regret later on. You're hurt and angry now, but if once things have cooled down, and we've gotten to Europe, gotten away from them, will you be able to live with yourself if you publicly end things?"

Christian doesn't say anything for a few minutes. I can see the wheels turning in his head. In his anger he had made a harsh decision. But surprising even to me, I was the voice of reason about how this might make him feel later on. I might have blown up at both of them when they had come to the room yesterday; and I was furious with them both, more because of how they had hurt Christian than how they had hurt me; but I didn't want to see her publicly humiliated like this. There was always going to be a small sliver of both Christian and I that still cared about her, and with a mumbled 'shit', I know Christian knew I am right.

Since no one but myself and Christian had known what this impromptu announcement had originally been for, it was easy to switch what the announcement was. As Christian announces that he will no longer be working as a consultant on the use of offensive magic at St. Vlad's, I watch Lissa's face. A bunch of micro-expressions flit across her face, but the one that has my blood boiling is the look of betrayal that she can barely hold back from showing. Hypocrite. Hypocrite on a level worse than what Christian and I did all the previous day.

Once the announcement is over, Lissa has the audacity to grab Christian's arm and pull him away from the crowd. I follow quickly behind and manage to catch the tail end of her berating him for not telling her about the job offer, and how moving to Europe would ruin everything that she had built at St. Vlad's since we had all graduated. That's when, much to my pleasure, Christian snapped.

"I didn't tell you, Princess, because it no longer concerns you. We're done." Christian hisses.  
"You don't mean that." Lissa comments as she takes a half step back, away from him as if he had slapped her.  
"Actually I do. You claim that what happened the other night between you and Belikov was a onetime thing, but I have no way of knowing if that's true or not, so I can't trust you. So Rose and I are going to Europe, while you and Belikov stay here. Now I need the ring back." Christian says, his voice low, but lacking all emotion except for when he said my name. Lissa doesn't seem to pick up on it, and tearfully removes the engagement ring from her finger and hands it back to Christian.

As soon as his fingers close around the ring, he turns to me with a nod and we leave. He pulls me as close as he can while we walk and he slips the ring into my hand discretely. I give him a questioning look, but he shakes his head minutely and I simply slip it into my pocket.


	4. Marry Me

Unexpected Comfort

Chapter 4: Marry Me

When we get back to my room, we start packing. It only takes a couple of hours to finish packing up my room, but instead of heading to his room to do the same, Christian sits down on the edge of the bed and pulls me down onto his lap. I take the ring out of my pocket and hold it out to him.

"What do you want to do with it?" I ask.  
"I can't destroy it. It's an Ozera family heirloom, but at the same time, giving it to anyone else, especially you, feels wrong. She disgraced, not only herself by doing what she did while wearing it, but she disgraced my family." Christian says.  
"You thought about giving it to me?" Surprise must be evident in my voice because Christian looks up at me with a surprised look himself.  
"I've loved you for quite a while, Rose. I never said anything to you, or even fully admitted it to myself, because I didn't know how you felt, and I wasn't going to put you in that kind of position. But after yesterday, well, I figured you felt the same or else we wouldn't have spent the day like we did."  
"I love you too, Christian. And I will happily accept a ring from you… I would just hold off until we're in Europe. We don't need to have accusations, whether they are true or false, thrown at us."  
"Or, since you no longer wear super low cut shirts anymore, we can put it on a chain and you can wear it as a necklace for now."

I press my lips to Christian's cheek and stand up, pulling him with me. I lead him to the middle of the room, wanting him to propose properly, and he seems to get that, so he goes down on one knee, holding my left hand, and holding the ring in the other. I can feel his apprehension over proposing to me with the same ring he gave to her, but I give him a reassuring smile and squeeze his hand.

"Rosemarie Hathaway, I know we didn't start off as friends, or even friendly with each other, usually tossing insults and jabs at the other, but over the years, things have changed drastically for us. You are the first thought in my head in the morning, and the last thought in my head at night, and you fill my mind every minute in between. When you were assigned as my Guardian, I thought it would be hell for both of us, but you proved me wrong, and quickly became the most important person in my life, more so than any other relationship. I love you, Rose. Will you marry me?"

I wasn't expecting that from him, but I know he meant every word, and the implication of everything he just said knocked me off my feet. Even when he had been with her, I was the most important thing in his life. As my eyes fill with tears that I just can't blink away, I nod, not trusting my voice not to crack, and Christian slips the ring onto my finger. When it doesn't move once he pulls his hand away, Christian's eyes go wide.

"What's wrong?" I ask as I wrap my right arm around his waist and stare at the ring.  
"It was slightly too big for her, but it fits you perfectly." Christian responds, bringing my hand to his lips and kissing my knuckles.  
"Huh. Maybe that's a sign. Maybe I was always meant to have it." I say, trying to hide my smile as I bury my face in Christian's chest.  
"I wish I had realized it sooner." Christian comments before tilting my chin up and giving me a light kiss.  
"Should we move to your room to start packing?" I ask in between small kisses.  
"Not yet. I want to make love to my fiancée in this room one last time."

I smile and he wastes no time with getting me naked and tossing me onto the bed. Unlike every round of sex that we did yesterday, this is slow and sensual. Despite the heat from his magic following the trail of his fingers, my skin breaks out in goosebumps. Christian spends extra time kissing as much of my body as he can and I feel like I'm melting. When he finally pushes all the way forward, buried balls deep inside of my pussy, my body arches off the bed and I grip his shoulders for support.

"I won't be surprised if you've managed to knock me up." I moan and feel Christian smirk against my neck.  
"We should probably talk about how many kids we want to have." Christian replies as he sets an extremely slow pace while making sure he's still stimulating my oversensitive clit.  
"I'll take as many as my body will allow me to have, and still be able to do what needs to be done as a Guardian." I say as I rotate my hips against his.  
"And I'll be happy with as many as we can have."  
"And you're okay with our children being Dhampirs?"  
"As long as they are healthy and take after their mother, then I will be satisfied."

My shock must be evident, again, because Christian leans down and presses a soft kiss to the tip of my nose. We let the topic of kids drop for now as Christian moves in and out of me at a snail's pace. And while I prefer a good fucking, Christian wanting to go slow this round and really make love to me makes me happy. It shows me that he truly cares about and loves me.

When I wake up the next morning, it's to Christian still buried balls deep in my pussy, and his entire body weight pressing down on top of me. When I go to flip us over so that I can wake him up by riding him, Christian's arms tighten around my waist, and his lips are on my neck. I'm about to say something when I feel the tips of his fangs puncturing my neck and I grip his shoulders.

"You taste amazing, Rose." Christian mutters against the column of my throat.  
"Listen to me very carefully, Ozera. If you are going to feed from me while we're having sex, then you better be pounding into my pussy too." I say as I lift and rotate my hips against his.  
"Lay still Rose." Christian instructs as he gently lowers my hips to the bed.  
"How can I when my fiancé is laying on top of me, buried balls deep inside, and just took a little nibble of my blood?" I ask, surprised when Christian relents and rolls us over.  
"Ride me, Rose. I want to see those tits jiggle."

I am about to do just that when someone starts pounding frantically on the door. With a frustrated sigh, I start to climb off of Christian to head towards the door, but at the last second, Christian grabs my hips and lays me on the bed. He spreads my legs and gives me a look that says to stay put, and I watch as he pulls on his pants, not bothering to button or zip them, and flings the door open.

"What the hell do you want, Belikov?" Christian growls.  
"I am here to talk to Rose."  
"She doesn't want to talk to you. Or did you forget? She made it very clear that she never wants to see you or the Princess ever again, unless in the event of a royal, social gathering. And would you look at that? This isn't a royal, social gathering."  
"This does not concern you, Lord Ozera. This is between me, and my Roza."  
"Once again I say; she. Does. Not. Want. To. See. You. And, she's not yours. You played with her emotions for years. And then you went and fucked her best friend behind her back."

Christian doesn't give Dimitri a chance to respond to that before slamming the door in his face and making sure to lock it. He's on me in a second, pounding into me with long, deep thrusts. I didn't even see him take his pants off. I'm on the verge of saying something when I feel his fangs breaking my skin. My whole body shudders as it is overcome with a feeling of euphoria.

"You are mine, Rose." He growls as he fills my pussy with his cum.


	5. Uncourtly Interactions

Unexpected Comfort

Chapter 5: Uncourtly Interactions

I'm still coming down from my high, so I simply nod. I'm in a daze for the rest of the day; and if it weren't for Christian dressing me, I would probably still be laying naked in my bed. By the time I shake out of it, Christian and I are on the Academy's private jet, and he's bouncing me on his lap. I glance around us, taking in the fact that we are the only two in this part of the plane, and I press my lips to his in a hungry kiss.

"When we land, I want to get married as soon as possible." Christian says after he's blown his load inside me once again.  
"Why the rush?" I ask.  
"As we were loading everything up, I overheard some of the other Guardians talking. The reason behind Belikov's visit this morning was because the Princess is trying to demand you get reassigned. If we are married, she can't take you away from me." Christian explains while nuzzling my neck. "And if I have gotten you pregnant over the last few days, then our baby won't be born out of wedlock."  
"In order for me to be reassigned, I would have to agree to it, or you would have to agree. And seeing as how that will never happen, I'm not going anywhere. However, with that said, I never fancied myself to having a long engagement." I say as I tilt my head to the side to give him better access to my neck.

After a lingering kiss to my neck, Christian pulls out of me, allowing both of us to straighten our clothes before he pulls me back down so that I'm sitting on his lap with his arms wrapped tightly around my waist. We're enjoying a private moment of silence when one of the other Guardians enters the cabin and walks over to us with an apologetic look on his face.

"I'm sorry to interrupt Lord Ozera, Guardian Hathaway, but I'm afraid we have make an immediate stop at Court."

Christian's hold on me tightens and he nods while gritting his teeth.

"She went to Tatiana?"  
"Possibly Adrian. If we are held up at Court, she'll possibly try and get Adrian to get me alone so that he can "convince" me to leave you, and take her reassignment."  
"He's not going anywhere alone with you."  
"I know."

When we land, we're greeted by Adrian and I hear Christian growl as his arm around my waist tightens marginally. I watch as Adrian's eyes zero in on where Christian's arm is, before flitting to my hand, and I see his chest deflate. Before anyone can say anything, we are approached by Adrian's great-aunt, Queen Tatiana and the mood shifts.

"I'm sorry for the abrupt change in your plans, Lord Ozera, but I'm afraid the matter of Guardian Hathaway's assignment has been brought to my attention." Tatiana says.  
"I'm not taking a reassignment, Your Majesty." I say as politely as possible.  
"That is not your decision, Hathaway. Princess Vasilisa has requested your reassignment, and while I did not approve of your recklessness and terrible influence on her in the past, I am going to give her what she wants." Tatiana replies.  
"With all due respect, Aunt, separating Rose and Christian, even on Lissa's request would not be wise." Adrian comments. "Their auras are joined by that of an unborn child." He adds and my mouth falls open as Christian's free hand lands on my stomach.  
"I beg your pardon?"  
"Rose is pregnant with Christian's child, Aunt. Only a couple days along, but it's still there. You cannot reassign Rose. That child needs both of its parents."

In the entire time I've known Adrian Ivashkov, I've never been more thankful for his abilities to see auras. And to have his confirmation that Christian has gotten me pregnant just solidifies my determination to not leave Christian's side.

"If she is only a few days along, then that means that Lord Ozera cheated on the Princess. And that is not an acceptable reason to keep these two together." Tatiana argues.  
"Your Majesty, nothing romantically happened between Rose and me until after we caught Lissa and Guardian Belikov fucking each other. Our admittance of love for one another might be new, but I was faithful to Lissa up until she was unfaithful to me. If there is any Guardian/Moroi duo that should be separated, it should be Lissa and Belikov." Christian comments as he pulls me in closer, my hand coming to rest on top of his that's still on my stomach.  
"Princess Vasilisa would never do something like what you are describing, Lord Ozera." Tatiana snaps and I narrow my gaze at her.  
"You do realize that Lissa can compel anyone, right, Your Majesty? Even you. Of course you don't think she's capable of being a backstabbing bitch, she's using compulsion and her natural charisma that stems from being a Spirit user to get you to see her as the victim. Christian and I have done nothing wrong, and neither of us agree to a reassignment for me. So if you'll excuse us, we have to finish our flight to Europe so that Christian isn't late for his new job." I say before turning my gaze to Adrian. "It was nice to see you again, Adrian. Too bad it wasn't under different circumstances." I add before leading Christian back onto the plane.

As we are taking our seats, and about to move back onto the runway, Christian and I are both shocked to see Adrian slip into the seat across the aisle from us. He doesn't look at us, and none of us say anything until we're in the air, and then I lay in on him.

"What the hell are you doing here, Adrian?"  
"I know it won't mean much, coming from me, but I want to apologize on behalf of my aunt for what Lissa has done to the two of you. I know you both, and I know that neither of you would do something so low as to hurt Lissa by cheating. Belikov on the other hand, he's as manipulative as Lissa. I'm on your guys' side of all of this." Adrian replies and once again, my mouth falls open.  
"You expect us to believe that?" Christian asks.  
"No, but I'll do whatever I have to do to prove it to you." Adrian says and I turn my attention to Christian.  
"He did stand up to Tatiana on our behalf." I point out.  
"He's also had a crush on you for years, Rose."  
"And the second he saw your arm around my waist, and the engagement ring on my finger, he knew he didn't have a chance. He's being selfless for the first time since we've known him."  
"You two know that I can hear you, right?"

I wave my hand behind me in a "shushing" motion and keep my focus on Christian. I have no romantic interest in Adrian, and I never had, but I know we need people on our side for when the news of the end of Christian and Lissa's engagement breaks and having a Spirit user on our side will be a bonus. I do what I can to convey all of that to Christian in my gaze. He seems to understand, or he might have been thinking the same thing, but he sighs and glances around me to Adrian.

"Okay fine. I don't trust you yet, but because Rose is right, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. If you do anything that shows me you aren't trustworthy, you'll be right back at Court." Christian says with a glare.  
"That's fair. And just so you both know, all I've ever wanted was for you to be happy, Rose. Yes, for years I've held on to hope that I could be the guy that did that for you, but I see you with Christian now, and this is the happiest I've ever seen you, and the brightest your aura has ever been. I don't want to come between the two of you."

I nod before settling back in my seat and resting my head on Christian's shoulder. His hand has moved back to my stomach protectively, and his thumb is caressing it absentmindedly, but I don't mind. Adrian confirmed that Christian got me pregnant, and while I had never thought about children before, I welcomed the thought of having a family with Christian.

"May I ask the two of you something? And you don't have to answer if you don't want to, I'm just curious." Adrian asks, pulling us out of our thoughts.  
"Sure." I say after sharing a brief glance with Christian.  
"Had there ever been any inkling, prior to all of this, that you might have had feelings for each other, stronger than friendship, that you tried to push away for Lissa and Belikov's sakes?"  
"There were times when I found myself thinking he was attractive." I admit.  
"I always thought she was beautiful, for a Dhampir, but more recently I began to realize she was just a beautiful person, period." Christian replies before pressing a kiss to my temple.  
"Had you ever talked about what could be if you hadn't been with other people?"  
"No. It was dangerous territory."

We all fall silent for a bit after that, but Christian is studying Adrian, and after about 5 minutes of staring, he breaks the silence.

"When did you stop drinking and smoking?" Christian asks.  
"What makes you think I've stopped?" Adrian counters.  
"If you hadn't, you would have had a drink in your hand the second you sat down. And you would have been smoking when we stepped off the plane." Christian points out.  
"I stopped after the attack on St. Vlad's. I had hoped it would land me a chance to win Rose's favor, but the longer I went without it, the easier it became to not need it frequently. And since my use of Spirit isn't the same as Lissa's and I don't Dreamwalk very often, I don't need the crutch of alcohol or nicotine." Adrian explains after letting out a sigh. "I do still enjoy both on occasion, but it's only one cigarette or one glass of alcohol, and never together anymore."

To say I was impressed would be an understatement, and surprised didn't seem to fit either. Adrian really had been serious about how he felt about me. He had even changed his lifestyle in hopes of making me happy. Now I just hope he's happy. We all fell silent again and I soon curled up in my seat and fell asleep.


End file.
